


Varsity

by jenni3penny



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 11:42:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19106389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenni3penny/pseuds/jenni3penny
Summary: Jack just needed somewhere to crash. "We're not gonna make it out of this as 'just friends', are we?"





	Varsity

As soon as he'd told her that she could crash at his place he'd known that trouble would come, just by the spark of her smile.

Because lately, in his personal life?

All trouble came by the name of _Jacqueline_.

***

When he saw her duffel in the front door hall he'd been reminded of when Tony needed a place to stay and how strongly he'd balked at first. Hell, that had been ages ago, while Kate was still alive… And how many people had stayed in his house since then? How much found 'family' had slept under his roof?

So damn much had changed in his life. But then so little, too. Because it was still such a quiet house until someone besides him was in it.

"Hey! I'll move it in a second, I swear."

He hadn't realized he was staring at her bag until then, hadn't noticed that it had stopped him in place. The front door wasn't even latched and he reached back to give it a shove closed. "Fine where it is."

He was a little charmed by it, actually. He hadn't seen an Army duffel in… well, since he'd been with Hollis. This one was a little more outdated, though. Little Miss Thief had ripped off the United States Army, it seemed. He was sorta proud of her for that.

It was roughed on the edges, scuffed and obviously used. Someone had marked a large Sharpie 'W' just below the Army block print and he didn't have to wonder too long as to who it was. She was one of only four options, really.

He did have to wonder if _their_ bags had looked the same, if _their_ families had even noticed.

"There's no way in hell you've got your work clothes in this thing," he tossed off as he heard her get closer. Anything she would have folded into that duffel would come out looking a mess and considering how much silky stuff she tended to wear - he was pretty sure that wasn't the entire arsenal.

"Garment bags in the living room." Right, that made more sense. The whole of her seemed to breeze around the corner with more energy than he certainly had at the end of the day. She had a dishtowel twisted up in her hands and something about her seemed… nervous, maybe? "Hi."

 _Hi_. Shit, she was cute. When she wasn't being a pain in his ass, anyhow.

He smiled, unable not to as he noted how quiet but affectionate her voice had gone. The strong urge to step into her space on the pretense of hearing her better struck him hard and he fought against it. Mainly because his hearing was fine, he just wanted to get closer to her. Gibbs just dropped his shoulders and leaned a little closer instead, eyeing the towel in her hands as he took a deep breath in.

He smelled _her_ , her perfume or shampoo or whatever it was that was so familiarly _Jack_. Her and something on the stove? "You cooking something?"

"I thought I'd repay you with an actual meal. From the kitchen and everything," she half taunted, seeming to still be a little nervous as she waved backwards toward the kitchen. "Maybe re-domesticate you a little."

His brain went on an immediate sightseeing trip, sans permission slip, imagining what Jack Sloane and domestication would look like in his house. It honestly didn't take him all that long to go from her cooking dinner to him lifting her onto the washing machine and swallowing the moan she made as he buried himself between her legs and that was _exactly_ why he planned to head for an ice cold shower.

He was _still_ a single man, regardless of their work. And, Jesus, she was _still_ a stunning (and available) woman. Even just in jeans and the white tank she was wearing. Her hair had gotten wrangled up in a messy knot but she still had her makeup and jewelry on, a long silver strand necklace nestled down the front of her and grabbing his attention whenever she shifted.

That fucking necklace had driven him crazy all day long. It had simply repeatedly reminded him, since seven forty in the morning, that it got to lay exactly where his mouth oughta be. From her throat and down between her breasts and he sure as shit wouldn't stop there if given the chance.

She wouldn't ( _shouldn't_ ) give him that chance.

"Didn't have to go to all that trouble," he told her, yanking up on the duffel strap and jerking the bag up against his shoulder as he tried to avoid her eyes. "I'll take this up."

Her hand reached out to his wrist and brushed along his forearm, stilling him. "You don't have to - "

"I've got it, Jack." He nodded once toward the kitchen with a smile, using his hip to nudge at hers and push her along. "Go finish what you were doing."

"Okay."

"Smells good," he encouraged, trying ( _failing_ ) to avoid staring as she nipped her bottom lip up between her teeth.

A smile tugged one corner of her mouth. "Yeah?"

 _Christ_ … She was sweet in her vulnerability, _when_ she let him see it. Though he figured that she let him see it far more often than the rest of the staff, besides Leon.

"I'm gonna shower quick, too," he tossed between them with a nod, heading for the stairs as she started moving for the kitchen.

"Okay. "

 _Okay_ , then. This certainly wasn't gonna work. Because Jack Sloane wouldn't usually out-quiet him - the monosyllabic answers had him wanting to grab her back.

And he didn't really want to stop himself.

So... _to hell with it_.

Gibbs reach out with his free hand and gave a tug on one of her belt loops, playfully jerking her momentum back so that he could catch her up and he had no real idea why. Except to touch her. And touching her was fast gonna get him into trouble but it seemed to be the absolute _only_ thing he'd wanted to do since walking in the door. "Got more than those two words available?"

"Are you…" she trailed off, exhaling while he gave another quick tug on her belt loop and then let go. "You _flirting_ with me, Gibbs?"

Well, if the rich softness and deep brown of her eyes told him anything it was that she wasn't repulsed by the idea. At least he had that going for him.

He shrugged as a first answer, watching her lips part slowly and then meeting her eyes. He couldn't help but smirk when she slowly gave him the gift of a smile, those beautiful eyes thinning in humor as she studied his face. She looked like she was searching him for clues, evidence, any information at all.

"You makin' me dinner?" he asked, brow arched and plenty implied.

Jack rolled her eyes, "Only because otherwise you eat like you're on a Boy Scout retreat."

He just shrugged at the accusation, as though he didn't at all feel the need to defend himself. His jaw upped a little and he caught her eyes, voice humming low, "Jack?"

Her eyes were flinting a little brighter than usual, more golden in the hall light. "Hmm?"

"Is it possible that I'm helping you move a body? Because this thing weighs a goddamn ton."

It took a moment to sink in and he watched the gorgeous evolution of her grin, enjoying the way she slapped against his bicep and shoved lightly. "Just get up there."

 

***

 

She knew he was there by the damp smell of him and the familiar scent of his soap and, honestly, because she'd started to feel him watching her. She must have been distracted by him and dinner, though, because he'd gotten far closer than she had expected.

Because he put his hand to her back to keep her from stepping into him and she damn near flinched at the touch.

No, she _did_ flinch. Because she heard him make a shushing noise in response just after, just to soothe her surprise as his hand dropped away.

"Sorry," he murmured and she turned into it, shaking her head against his apology, not realizing how close he had really gotten until she was pressed near smack into his chest.

"No, I don't know why the hell I'm so jumpy," Jack laughed and tugged on the t-shirt he was wearing, watching him smile as he reached past her to get a couple plates. Something in her demeanor had shifted enough to relax them both again because he blatantly just lifted his left hand to her side and held her still as he grabbed the flatware.

If it was any other man, she would consider it a less than subtle invitation to get even closer but… it was _Gibbs_. This was a man who had no concept of personal space, and especially when something got in his way.

"You've been here plenty, Jack." The low valved hum of his voice tugged at her and she turned her head closer to his.

"I know," she admitted quietly, feeling him tip his jaw at a steeper angle to hers.

 _Damn_ , she couldn't help licking along her bottom lip with him that tantalizingly close. She heard the sound he made in answer, just the faintest barely there clearing of his throat before he shook his head minutely and inhaled. It was a stilted pause before his fingers flexed and gripped against her side, jaw lifting.

"Starvin'," he finally sighed out and stepped back, hand dropping away and leaving a spot of heat on her as she watched him turn.

She still couldn't seem to make herself move at first. Just stood there like an idiot, not knowing what to do with her hands. So she slanted her hips back against the counter and grabbed onto it, giving herself immovable stability and balance as the scent of him dissipated.

There wasn't an inch of her that wasn't entirely aware of him. And not just as a friend but as a man that she was seriously attracted to, a man she very obviously had some unrequited and unrecognized feelings for. Every bit of her was on some sort of pheromone high or something, absolutely screaming at her for not grabbing him close and climbing all six feet of him. He'd lit a furnace in her gut, sparked it up and then cranked the heat. _Asshole_.

She didn't doubt he'd done it on purpose, either. He was suddenly a very big fan of home-style flirtation.

Maybe she should have asked to stay at Ellie's until her landlord had gotten the mold issue under control…

"You comin'?" His question tugged lightly at her and she instantly told the more physically attentive parts of her body to cool their shit. The ache he was making low in her gut, right between her thighs? He _really_ didn't need to keep nudging it along.

"Um, the chicken tikka's got some heat to it, so grab a drink."

"Good," he nodded as he tugged open the fridge, already reaching into it with his free hand while his foot held it open. "Beer?"

She'd need more than one… "Oh, I already have one open."

The chuckle that came off him as he kicked the fridge closed caught her attention and she watched him head for the table, nodding. "That's my girl."

_His girl?_

_Right,_ and that was when her entire body dove off the cliff of common fucking sense.

 

***

She heard him clear his throat from across the room, his whole body shifting lower on the couch as he checked his laptop. "Abby email you too?"

"The pictures from the fundraiser?" She asked, lifting her phone to see if maybe she had missed a different email. There were no other messages so she dropped it back to the coffee table and looked up at him from her side of the sectional. "Yeah, she sent some this afternoon. She looked beautiful."

"Surprised she even got Luca over there."

Jack just smiled at the thought, stretching out a little farther as she slipped a finger into her place in the book she'd pulled out. "She asked me if you're doing okay."

Gibbs lifted his head, squinting at her through his reading glasses, more as though he was trying to discern why Abby would ask. Or maybe why she would ask _her_. "Oh, yeah? Well, am I?"

Like she could answer that question. On most any given day she couldn't say how he was without instantly second guessing herself. She found that the closer she found herself to him emotionally… the harder he was for her to read. She had started to lose the ability to be detached or professionally assured, to remove herself to a safe distance mentally.

She worried for him, regardless of his actual state of mind. Good mood or bad, it didn't matter.

She worried for him, about him, no matter what.

"I don't know why people ask me that. I never know the right answer," she groused, feeling her tone sour a little and wincing after saying it. She knew he was watching her, despite his perfect stillness.

"She thinks I tell you things that I don't tell the others." His explanation was soft and underlined by the way he closed the laptop and leaned forward, setting it to the coffee table. Instead of stretching back again he put his elbows to his knees and turned his head to watch her once again.

He was focused now. Focused on her and the conversation. There was no use trying to distract him out of it. The man was indefatigable when he wanted the answer to something and she'd seen him in action aplenty. The best defense against Gibbs was to just be honest and not play the game at all.

Or, well, get emotionally cut-throat. But she was reserving that strategy for when it was absolutely necessary.

Jack closed her book entirely, holding the blue of his eyes in her direction as she tossed the paperback onto the table, too. "Do you?"

"Sure, sometimes." She was surprised by the admission, by its natural vulnerability. It had her settling back into the couch and stretching out sidelong as he watched her and asked "That okay?"

"Please do," she said, happily.

Her sincere smile urged on the boyish smirk that he gave her when she blatantly caught him glancing down the dip of where her necklace had fallen. Hadn't been the first time that day. He'd been distracted by it for hours, at least.

She would have to wear it again. Preferably when he was starting to get grumpy or frustrated at work.

Blue eyes went a little darker and he tipped his head farther. It was only the beat of a breath before he was at her again, "That a request from the therapist or the friend?"

" _Not_ your therapist, Gibbs," Jack answered swiftly and gratefully. "I don't envy Grace in the least. Between the two of us she's got more baggage than Dulles."

"All right. That a request from the friend or the beautiful woman then?"

"I _can_ be both." And she didn't realize how passionate she was on the subject until it came out of her so strongly, strident and sure.

She didn't realize how much he could make her blush from three feet away until he smiled wide in answer, not from humor or amusement but by way of absolute pleasure.

"You already are, Jack."

She held her breath because… God, she didn't know why. Likely because if there was one moment she wanted to pause between them, well, _that_ was in the top five.

"Really feel like we should be closer for this conversation."

"Probably more responsible to stay farther apart," she murmured, instantly regretting it when she saw his face darken and jaw tense. Jack shook her head quickly, trying to salvage the moment somehow, waving between them. "But you're not wrong. You're very far away."

A slow and tentative grin pulled up one corner of his mouth after her recovery, making him look innocently handsome. "C'mere."

"I'm comfortable," she countered with a tease of a smirk, making show of stretching farther on her side of the sectional. "You come over here."

Maybe it was a little bit of a test. Maybe… She would force him to move, to come to her. She'd force him to really mean it and be sure.

"That's how it's gonna be?" he asked, even as he pressed a palm into the cushion at his side and levered up from the opposite side of the couch. She couldn't help the smirk she answered with, watching him stretch and give in to her knowingly.

Jack watched him approach, head lifted as he sat into the corner of the sectional and went loose, low in the cushions and stretched back. He cleared his throat and reached forward, caught into her hair without request or warning.

She slipped her eyes shut, leaning into his fingers as he pulled her hair away from her face and back, the other hand tapping just along her wrist and the way she was supporting herself on the cushions.

"C'mon."

It was only two slurred syllables and, possibly, _still_ the sexiest thing he had said all night. Admittedly, she figured that probably had more to do with the sweet and slow way he pulled her into his chest and shoved lower as she shifted. He angled her into his side, turning his head so purposely slowly that she knew what he was going to do just before his nose brushed against her temple, lips following after it.

She took a deep breath and swallowed, turning closer into his touch. "You sure about - "

"Nope," he kissed into her hair, slacking his hips forward so they were both slouched lower and relaxed and it _really_ wasn't necessary for him to draw her attention south. She'd already been plenty attentive. Simple reconnaissance, really. "Wanna hear something that I don't tell the others?"

_Hell. Yes._

She made a hummed noise of agreement that was half to answer the question and half because he had kissed just in front of her ear after asking and her entire sensory system had lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree.

"You're the only woman I buy coffee for. First in awhile."

She felt the blush hit her cheeks, felt the heat on her face and deep in the center of her lungs. She still couldn't help smiling, though. Her lips curled as she looked up and watched him laugh silently. "Is that like letting me wear your varsity jacket?"

"Pretty much," he told her - so quietly, barely even speaking. All it did was draw her mouth closer to his, draw her attention to each calculated breath and movement he made. He was moving so purposely, each shift or lean or touch was slowly planned and intentional. She knew him well enough to know he likely didn't move on a woman unless he was absolutely sure. "Same difference."

"We're not gonna make it out of this as ' _just friends',_ are we?" she surmised so softly that he actually turned his head a little into hearing her.

He laughed and it was all breath, all warmth. "Hell, I hope not."

His knuckles brushed against her face in a way that almost had her self conscious. It had her feeling delicate, led to her ducking into the movement of his hand as he kissed against the side of her head. "I can stop? If you're not - "

"Please don't."

She expected the kiss, honestly… but she didn't expect him to be so insistent and assured and to tug her so easily close. She didn't expect it to be so wonderfully sensual, one of his hands buried in her hair while the other arm curled her up against his chest.

Jack pulled up higher into him, hands fisting into his shirt as she let his tongue stroke hers, a groan lifting up his lungs. One hand kept in his shirt while the other went flat to his cheek, brushing his jaw. One kiss became a series of smooth and slow ones, teasing each other and trading dominance, hands searching.

She pressed on him, kept him still as she pulled away. She tried to still him, anyhow, laughing against his lips as he shifted forward, following after her. Jack hadn't realized that both his hands had dug into her hair until he caught her, kept her from moving any farther back as he studied her face.

"Hi," she whispered, repeating the greeting from earlier in the evening, making him instantly grin.

"Better than a varsity jacket?"

Her uncontrollable smile wrecked any chance she had of looking aloof or detached. That was all right, though. She didn't mind looking like she wanted more of him, not while she stroked against the shaded stubble that was coming up along his jaw.

"I'll let you know."

 

***

 

The problem with advancing as far forward as he had was that he had no subtle way of pulling back. Considering how entangled they'd gotten, he'd be surprised if he could itch his nose without waking her, let alone hit the head.

It had been long enough that he had near forgotten how enjoyable simply making out on the couch could be. Especially considering the fact that she didn't seem to be a very shy woman. Classy, almost demure, but then damn direct too. She hadn't had a single problem pulling his wrists up and drawing his fingertips up under her breasts.

In fact, most of the touching had been instigated by the sweet blonde who had managed to stretch him out underneath her on the cushions. And she'd mostly done it just so that she could slide a thigh between his and moan into his mouth as she'd pressed them into a warm knot, all limbs and languid kisses.

He had gotten to a point where just lazed touching on the couch was simply going to make his head explode and he'd caught her hands up still under the pretense of rubbing her back, scars be damned. Considering it had lulled her to sleep, he was pretty sure that they had reached a whole new height of comfortable intimacy.

He kissed against her cheek, brushed his nose against hers in a soft attempt to wake her. "Jack."

The groan she gave him went buried against his throat and forced him to lift his jaw up. "So help me Christ, I _just_ fell asleep."

"Bullshit, you've been asleep more than an hour," Gibbs argued quietly. "I'm putting you to bed."

"M'fine here," she whispered, wriggling her leg farther between his and causing a friction that had his entire lower body flaring hot and tightening up.

"Nope, upstairs. In bed."

A grumped sound hit his chest just before she moaned. "That's a really shitty way of asking a girl into bed with you, by the way. I was just getting to the good part in my dream."

Apparently she had a trucker's vocabulary when she was sleepy and he'd be damned if he didn't find it sort of adorable. He was more than ready to see what sleepy Sloane looked like, in all her glory.

"Actually, you were kneeing me in the groin. Which good part?"

"You really wanna know?"

"I think I do," he told her. She made the cutest face as he answered, very obviously questioning if he was serious. He couldn't help the laugh that came up his throat as he tugged at her. "Think I can take it, Lieutenant."

"Think you already have it."

The word play wasn't lost on him in the least and he swallowed hard before even trying to come up with a response. She didn't make it any easier on him, either. Not when she just nodded softly to support the sincerity of her statement and then lifted her hand, giving him plenty of time to shift his head back before her fingers touched against his lips.

He kissed against her fingertips just before nipping at them, drawing a stunning smile over her mouth before she laughed. "Lemme try again?"

Her finger rapped his bottom lip playfully, her attention more on his mouth than anything. "What?"

"Come to bed with me, Jack?"

Her face went weak for a moment, all of her moaning downward into him, head first. Pleasing her had seemingly always been something he enjoyed - making her audibly moan was about to be a new hobby, though. Damn, it sounded delicious, especially when she was already pressed into him.

She recovered when she looked back up and saw the brightness of his smile, her lips curled upward and brown eyes thinned at him as she gave him a jab right in the hip. "Oh, you _are_ a charming son of a bitch."

"That a 'yes'?" he asked, tugging up against her hand.

"Oh, _definitely_ ," she murmured, following through with the movement and catching his jaw still so that she could kiss him lightly. "I really _did_ just need a place to stay, Gibbs"

"I really couldn't let you stay anywhere else."

 

***

She shouldn't have been surprised by how slowly he'd undressed her, not considering how purposely patient he'd seemed all evening.

She's was still charmed by it, though. And it started to slowly dawn on her that maybe he had been in a similar position as her - because he'd seemed intent upon seeing and/or touching every inch of her.

It wasn't a fair game he was playing, though, his blue eyes shaded gray in low light and pent lust. Because he kept putting her hands back up to his chest or shoulders as he finished undoing her jeans.

He'd already gotten her shirt and bra off, his fingers gentle as he had laid the slip of a silver necklace back against her skin and then teased her breasts. Every movement had somehow kept her from reciprocating, his hands always finding a way to control hers.

"Stop it," she said sharply into the half dark of his bedroom, slapping at the way he blocked her hand back again. "I outrank you, goddamn it."

Instead of answering he just lifted both hands back and laughed brightly into his bedroom, letting her reach wherever she wanted. His swallow was audible as she reached for his shirt, tugging at the fabric and lifting until he raised his arms and let her take it off him.

"C'mere," he murmured as she dropped the shirt aside, the fabric barely off her fingertips as he drew her up and into a kiss. She was too busy enjoying the kiss at first to realize he had really just found a way to slide her jeans off her hips and grab her ass. He pried at the waistband of her underwear, slipping his fingers under it.

Her laughter broke the kiss apart and she caught the humor in his eyes, sending her fingers along the shorter trimmed hair at the back of his head. "I _guess_ this is better than a varsity jacket."

She let off a yelp of laughter as he gave her a shove back onto the mattress.

_Way better._


End file.
